Zimbabweans struggle to get by amid economic and food crisis Zimbabwe’s economy has been on a downturn for over a decade with perennial food shortages, a foreign currency crunch, scarcity of basic commodities and high unemployment. Around five million people, or a third of the 16 million Zimbabweans, are in need of aid and at least half of them are on the cusp of "starvation", according to the World Food Programme (WFP). IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES